


The Tales of Beetlebark

by DazeSprite



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: all original characters - Freeform, original territories, warriors fandom au universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-29 09:13:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13924020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DazeSprite/pseuds/DazeSprite
Summary: When Hollowclan's previous medicine cat mysteriously disappears without choosing a replacement, the clan is sent into a frenzy. Leafbare is swiftly approaching and tensions along the border are high, holding the imminent threat of battle on the near horizon.With no cat willing to take the role, Ashstar soon receives a sign in a dream, a sign that seems to point to the very young Beetlepaw being named medicine cat. The clan has agreed to follow the sign, for risk of offending Starclan and facing their wrath. But, is clumsy and inexperienced Beetlepaw the best choice for the role? Or, will the pressure cave against him, and destroy his faith in Starclan and his home clan entirely?This is a tale of Beetlebark; the unlikely choice whose life revolves around the same question: should cats follow logic, or faith?





	The Tales of Beetlebark

**Author's Note:**

> Plot originated and based from Ailouros: Warriors RP site run by member Elune. Special thanks to Elune for co-creation of the territories and plot as well as use of Ashstar.

Cracks of thunder split the sky and shook the rocky ground below. Lightning flashed and illuminated the open maw of the tunnels where an entire clan had gathered beneath the rocky awning. Anxious tails swished and waved, and the sound of accusing wails and hisses erupted over the oncoming storm as clanmates faced one another. Their fur bristled amidst the heated debate which was only rising in tension with each rapid flash of lightning.

“He left! Don’t you see? There is no evidence that he was attacked!” A brown she-cat snarled at her denmate with her ears pulled back challengingly.

“Where would he have gone, Dustflower? He wouldn’t just up and leave! He was our medicine cat, and he took his job seriously! Ryestep would never abandon us!” A burly, muscled tom retorted back with a bare of his teeth, as he rose intimidatingly above the she-cat. His chest was puffed out, displaying his pride and clear conviction in his beliefs.

“A predator! A predator could have got him!” A silver queen wailed an interjection of fear as she curled her tail defensively around her kit. The tiny scrap mewled and squeaked, his barely open blue eyes were round in fear from the shouting and the vibrations of the trembling ground. She bent over to run her tongue over his head, rapidly and excessively in her nervousness.

“There was no blood, no fur, no feathers and no scents- nothing to indicate that a predator was in our territory.” A white tom pointed out as pushed the crowd away to brush his pelt against the queen’s reassuringly. 

“So, where is he then? You think he didn’t leave, but what else could have happened? It’s been several sun-highs and he hasn’t returned. The only scent we picked up was his own, before the trail ended at the border. It is pretty cut and dry to me! Rystep is gone; he chose to leave!” Dustflower continued as her voice rose to a caterwaul above the others. “He never took an apprentice, and now we are left without a medicine cat at a time when Oakclan is threatening our borders! All it will take it one invasion, and then what? Who will help us? None of you are familiar with herbs, and we lost the one cat who could teach us!” She hissed as her gaze lingered over each cat in passing.

“We are doomed!” A hunched elder moaned from among the edge of the group, his matted tail drooping. “Never before has this happened. If only Ryestep hadn’t been so stubborn and had taken an apprentice… he thought he had many moons ahead. Now it has been cut short. What will we do? We will all fall to illness and injury before the upcoming leafbare has ended!”

“He was a young tom; he should have had many moons.” An elder she-cat beside him shook her head at the waste. It was no wonder that the medicine cat hadn’t seen the rush to choose a young cat to fill his paws, when he was of a young warrior age himself.

“Someone has to take his place!” A tom’s voice rose up from the crowd, and was followed by murmurs of agreement that rippled through the crowd. “We need a cat to become our medicine cat!”

“But who? Who will step up and take the role?” The elder demanded as she flashed him an expectant look, then trailed her gaze from one previously outspoken young cat, to the other. 

The crowd had fallen silent and shifted their gaze uncomfortably from one cat to another at the weight of her glance. None of them knew how to heal, and every cat knew the weight of responsibility that came with the role of medicine cat. With the upcoming moons, their role would be dire. Not to mention they would be giving up their warrior lives and a future of having kits with their prospective mates in order to take the position.

“No one…?” The elder she-cat’s tail fell as she scanned the crowd. Not one cat was willing to take the position. What were they to do in this scenario? Who would they turn to? Were they all… doomed?

“Enough.” A sharp voice cut through the crowd and echoed slightly off the walls. The gathered cats parted with their ears twitching back nervously, eyes widened as they looked to their approaching leader. Ashstar was a cat with a commanding presence, and right now her brown eyes were drilling into each passerby in her well-renowned stern look. On her command, the cave had fallen silent, and only the rumbles of thunder interrupted their anticipated wait as she moved to the center to speak.

The muscled tabby she-cat turned toward her clan and stood tall as she curled her tail around her paws. “It has been a full week since Ryestep has disappeared. Last night, I received a dream; Starclan has given me a vision...” 

The cats began to whisper to one another in astonishment, to which Ashstar silenced them with another stern glare. 

“In this dream, a pile of herbs rested at the corner of the clearing- healthy and green despite the cold grip of frost and snow that surrounded our camp. On top of these herbs, was a hard-shelled and crawling insect. A beetle. I believe that Starclan is communicating with us who the next medicine cat should be.” Ashstar waited a moment for the announcement to sink in, before she nodded her head and then swished her tail, signaling the clan that they now had permission to discuss and react.

“A beetle? Don’t beetles eat the leaves of the herbs?” A heavily scarred tom blinked in confusion as he looked to the cat next to him. Surely a beetle would be a bad sign for a medicine cats den, right?

“You mousebrain! If Starclan gave the sign of a beetle as a response to our trouble, they couldn’t be as literal as that! It has to do with the cat who will replace Ryestep!” A warrior gruffly nudged the dim tom and then rolled his eyes. 

“Wha-? You mean like… a cat whose name is Beetle?” The battle-worn tom looked vaguely surprised by this notion and flicked an ear as he was nudged. “But, that would mean…”

“Beetlepaw! It must be about Beetlepaw!” An eager warrior interrupted him, his tail bristling in anticipation. 

“...Beetlepaw?” The clan fell to a confused chatter among themselves at the announcement, each one more bewildered than the last. It was a tortoiseshell queen who finally shoved through the throng to speak up and voice their concerns to the leader:

“Beetlepaw?! The young tom is barely seven moons! You can’t be serious to think that Starclan would choose a newly grown kit to place into an important position such as this! You said it yourselves; these next few moons will be dire to us with the threats of both Oakclan and Leafbare! You would place a kit into a role that none of the grown cats would take?” The queen’s eyes flashed challengingly at the crowd behind her.

Unfortunately, her logic had already been lost as several cats in the crowd had begun to look relieved and rejoice. Either they had been too wrapped up in the announcement to pay attention to her interjection, or they didn’t agree:

“Starclan has spoken! The starry ancestors have never let us astray before. We must trust Starclan above all others!” A brown tom chimed up.

“But- you have to admit how foolish this sounds! It will put out whole clan at stake!” The tortoiseshell queen cast a look of disbelief in his direction while the hackles on her neck rose.

“Doubting the sign is a lack of faith in our Warrior Code, and all that we live for! Do you doubt our warrior ancestors?” A black-furred warrior from the other side of the group shouted, tearing her gaze to him as he rose the cats around him into astonished murmurs.

“He’s right! I-I mean, he’s young… but Starclan chose him. They will teach him what he needs to know. Medicine cats receive all sorts of visions… he will be closer to Starclan and Starclan knows- well, everything.” A young red warrior ducked his head as all of the eyes glanced to him and his reluctant agreement.

“This is mouse-brained! You can’t all think-” The queen gaped as she glanced from one cat to another. It seemed at least half the clan was murmuring in agreement with the others, while the rest were avoiding her gaze or looking at Ashstar questioningly, as if they agreed with her but were too afraid to speak up. Were they afraid of being reprimanded by the leader, challenged and outcast by their clanmates, or perhaps of offending Starclan themselves? Who could say which fear dominated the others, but the queen’s supporters were dwindled to a few half-hearted mutters.

“Ashstar, please- listen to logic. This can’t be right, can it? Surely Starclan gave you more guidance or an explanation. The beetle in your dream doesn’t mean that Beetlepaw is to be chosen.” The tortoiseshell’s brown eyes were desperate and pleading as she turned to address the leader, looking for what could only be the last hope to upturning the foolish majority’s decision. She was convinced that most had lost their sense of logic in their desperation to throw a cat into the position and relieve their personal fears. How was it supposed to be better though, to place an untrained and young cat into something so important? Did they really think Starclan was going to somehow turn a kit into a prodigy?

The leader looked down at the queen silently and evaluated the gathered cats with an unreadable gaze. She seemed to be measuring them, or perhaps, ranking their reactions to see where they stood. After moments of calculated silence and the clan waiting on edge for a final decision, she finally nodded and spoke out:

“Starclan works in strange ways, but I find their sign to be clear. They have sent me a message to decide the new medicine cat, and the beetle is the one who will heal us. That being said, I must agree that Beetlepaw is the only cat who fits this description. Once he has returned from his training session this evening, we will announce his new name and usher him to take his role as medicine cat of Hollowclan. The rest of you are dismissed to go about your duties.” 

The tortoiseshell’s whiskers and tail drooped at the leader’s stern words and she stared at her paws. All hope of an upturned decision or at the least, a second voice of reason, had been extinguished. Meanwhile, the rest of the clan rushed about and pushed past her in an excited frenzy of chatter, the weights of their worries having been lifted with the decision that was set into stone. Warriors were splitting up and heading to their dens or towards the mouth of the cave, while queens, elders and apprentices hung about in gathered clusters to talk about this decision and other important news from the day.

_Starclan… I’d like to hope you are right, but how can you be? Is this really what is best for Hollowclan?_

The queen shuddered at the chilled breeze that seemed to blow from the den opening, now unshielded as the group of bodies had dissipated. She glanced at the darkened cloud-covered sky, then turned bitterly as she strode her way towards the nursery. She could only hope that she was wrong, and that the starry ancestors would share some of their concealed wisdom. Otherwise, who knew what would become of her home.


End file.
